filmmaking tips and tricks Archive
There are tools that allow us filmmakers to convey emotion and energy through otherwise dull and boring shots. It may be a crane, a steadycam, a dolly, or for those who can’t afford a set of tracks or a Jimmy Jib, usually it’s a slider. Sliders are
A couple of months ago, on MAKE. ART. NOW. YouTube channel popped up an enticing video shot in the moonlight with a BMPCC 4K, a great camera that is surely not famous for its low light performance. How did Josh Yeo get away with that? Well, he
Sony has got through times of a huge success with their mirrorless camera lineup as more and more filmmakers make the switch or begin their careers with a Sony Alpha camera in their hands. But as common and known as the brand can be, and as efficient
It’s getting more and more common to see filmmakers using gimbals, sliders, and whatnot to stabilize the movement of their camera while shooting. These systems have become more advanced with every new iteration, but sometimes you just don’t have a stabilizer at your disposal, or you simply
Getting your color and exposure right can be really challenging, especially if you are tight for time. Mixed light sources, changing color temperatures, the hundreds of permutation of camera settings and picture profiles that are now available and the inbuilt ‘color-science’ of your chosen camera all add
NAB has come and gone, all the hype and the flood of presentations, dinners and keynotes are gone. While the dust settles down, we can take a look back at some of the most interesting news that came out of it. Blackmagic Design went on the path
With every new release Resolve is getting the more and more mature as a full editing suite. The last version that Blackmagic Design dropped at the first day of NAB sports a lot of new features and upgrades. The most talked one is the object removing, but
Sometimes we dwell a lot when it comes to the tools of our work, in the gear we use instead of focusing on what is truly important and what should be the focus of every filmmaker – making films. Sometimes we go the opposite way, and we
After the shooting, after the debates with the clients to get the edit ready, after the credits, the graphics, the color correction, and the sound mixing, after everything else, comes that moment, when everything is ready and you have to render your video. We all know the
The NAB show in Las Vegas has come and gone as it always does, and in the plethora of new gear, announcements, keynotes, and different companies on the stage, Blackmagic Design have unveiled their new version of the popular post-production suite DaVinci Resolve 16, once used only
It’s been a while, probably since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, that Apple has been accused of drifting away from its loyal user base of professionals. The focus seemed to be centered on consumer devices and mobile software development, but it looks like the table
Premiere Pro lives in the Adobe Creative Cloud so of course, it is full of great creative features to help you realise your video making potential. It is always fun to look beyond the basic tools and find new and interesting ways to work, so let’s have
The Osmo Pocket, like its bigger Osmo brothers and many other gimbals, offers excellent 3-axis stabilisation. One axis that isn’t stabilised is the up-and-down or Z-axis and this can result in footage with a noticeable bounce when walking. Adding a Z-axis, a spring-based system can smooth this
The Sony a7III is a fantastic mirrorless camera with excellent internal recording options. Pair it with an external recorder like the Atomos Ninja V and it becomes even more powerful… but not only that. During testing of the Sony a7III, Gerald Undone noticed some differences between internal
Log files are known to offer more flexibility in post-production as the use of a logarithmic compression allows camera makers to squeeze more information inside the same bitrate. These also provide major recovery in the highlights giving you overall a superior dynamic range. But all of this,
Approaching travel, may it be for work or leisure, is always a stressful moment for filmmakers. What should I bring? And if I need this adapter? Or that accessory? It’s always tough, more if you are headed to a secluded location, maybe a park or a mountain
We risked missing the airing of the Best Cinematographer of the year in this annual Academy Awards, but luckily this wasn’t the case. The Oscar ceremony confirmed one thing that all those who work in the field already know, and that’s the fact that the ARRI ALEXA
Most of the works we do nowadays require a minimum of compositing or visual effects. No doubt the most common software for this kind of job is After Effects. Graphics, animations, it’s a tool good for many tasks, and although the integration between elements of the Adobe
Cinematic, more cinematic! That’s the war cry of most of the filmmakers out there. We all are well aware of the dreaded nightmare, the “Video Look”, the “Soap Opera effect”… Call it as you may, but we all know what we are talking about here. It’s not
Every one of us has seen at least one time a GorillaPod. Those little tripods made of small balls, able to bend and shape itself as needed have been in the backpack of quite every traveling filmmaker in the world. Light and pretty useful, who could think
